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Thrasher, Fuller indicted together

Father, son, along with another man, face federal charges for conspiring to possess and distribute methamphetamine.

State charges of bank robbery against Tyler Wayne Fuller, 28, of Madras, for the Aug. 21 robbery at the Madras U.S. Bank, have been dropped, and he has instead been indicted on a federal bank robbery charge.

According to the grand jury indictment from the U.S. District Court of Eugene, a man later identified as Fuller, walked into the bank at about 1:56 p.m. on the day of the total solar eclipse, when traffic was backed up through town. The man demanded cash from a teller, and then walked out with a little more than $500 in cash.

Although Fuller was immediately identified as a suspect in the robbery, he was not located until Aug. 24, when Jefferson County Sheriff's Office deputies, acting on a tip, stopped a sport utility vehicle on Highway 361. Fuller was a passenger in the vehicle, which had two other passengers, plus the driver, and he was taken into custody without incident.

U.S. Attorney Frank Papagni, who is prosecuting the federal case, said that Fuller has also been indicted on a federal charge of conspiring to possess and distribute methamphetamine with two others — his father, Ronald Wayne Thrasher, 48, of Madras, who is in federal custody in Eugene, and Jason James Puckett, 44, of Prineville, who is in custody in Lakeview.

Thrasher, who was arrested on May 19, also faces federal charges of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a stolen firearm. His state charges were also dismissed.

Following an investigation into the trafficking of methamphetamine in Central Oregon, Thrasher was arrested during a traffic stop. The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement team served a search warrant at his residence on Northwest Deschutes Drive, and located about 17 pounds of methamphetamine.

Because the amount is more than 50 grams, Papagni said that the charge of possessing methamphetamine with the intent of distributing it is subject to a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence up to life in prison, a $4 million fine, and up to six years of post-prison supervision.

Since Thrasher has a prior felony drug conviction, "he's subject to a mandatory 20 years to a maximum of life," Papagni noted, plus an additional five years for possession of a firearm while committing a federal drug trafficking crime.

Fuller is scheduled to be in federal court Oct. 23, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin.